Has the West Ham United injury curse struck again after prime target Marko Arnautovic was stretchered off in Stoke City friendly.
The Hammers have had a £15 million bid rejected by the Potters and chairman Peter Coates has admitted the player will be sold if their terms are met, as reported by the Evening Standard.
Slaven Bilic has made the 28-year-old one of his main targets and his profile fits with the club’s current policy to add proven Premier League players to their team.
Arnautovic has reportedly handed in a transfer request after becoming disillusioned with life at the Bet365 Stadium, as reported by Sky Sports.
Stoke City’s Marko Arnautovic
That will be music to the ears of Hammers fans who have watched on with frustration as their rivals strengthen while Pablo Zabaleta is West Ham’s only signing so far on a free transfer from Manchester City.
But has the infamous West Ham injury curse struck again after the attacker was seemingly injured and had to be substituted in Stoke’s pre-season friendly against Neuchatel Xamax.
According to the Stoke Sentinel’s live coverage of the 0-0 draw, Arnautovic looked like he would require a stretcher before limping off and did not reappear for the second half as Mark Hughes made 11 changes.
The Sentinel reported: “Arnautovic is down and this time it looks pretty serious. It looks like he might need a stretcher. Stoke’s medical team is looking pretty concerned and Bojan and Erik Pieters have gone over to check he’s all right.
“The half-time whistle has gone in the mean time. Arnautovic shrugs off the physio and limps down the tunnel on his own. Stoke fans were calling: “Arnie is a Stokie.”
Headache: West Ham manager Slaven Bilic
West Ham will be hoping the injury is not serious enough to put a stop to any potential transfer.
Hammers fans are used to seeing their players, new signings and potential signings suffer serious injuries and just last season watched as record buy Andre Ayew was injured and ruled out for four months just 30 minutes into his debut against Chelsea.
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